Lincoln let out a sigh. He was tired, but that was expected for the first day of school. He was standing outside, waiting for the bus with Lynn. He really wasn't looking forward to going to middle school. Most of his friends weren't even going to be there.

Liam and Zack were held back and they were too embarrassed to even talk to Lincoln anymore. Clyde had moved during the summer… That was still really hard to think about. Stella was still there, they had grown a lot closer as friends. Rusty was… Rusty. They were still friends, but he had started to hang with 'the cool kids' in order to 'meet chicks' as Rusty would put it. Not really something Lincoln was interested in doing. Sure he wanted a girlfriend, but he had more important things to do.

Mostly he just wanted to get through the year and maybe make a few more friends.

"Hey Stincoln, you ready for this year?" Lincoln turned to look at his sister. She was far more… pumped, that he was. She couldn't even hold still for five minutes. "Yeah, you know it." Lynn frowned, looking him over. "Come on Linc, I know you don't like school and I know you are still upset about all of your friends abandoning you, but it's not going to be that bad."

Lincoln gave her a blank look before turning away. "Easy for you to say. You have more than one friend. I only have Stella… Maybe Rusty if he stops his stupid girl conquest that will go nowhere." Lynn sighed, patting his back. "Don't worry about it Lincoln. This is middle school. I'm sure people will see how great you are and will be begging you to be their friends."

Lincoln snorted, seeing the bus come. "I doubt that, but I wouldn't mind making another friend or two." Lynn turned Lincoln to look at her, her face serious. "Come on Linc, it's really not going to be that bad and if you need more friends… Well, you can always bring Stella and come and sit with me at lunch. I know it's not ideal, but I like to think we are friends."

Lincoln smiled and they separated. "Thanks Lynn… That sounds nice." Lynn nodded, returning the smile. "Of course, now let's go before the bus leaves us here." Lincoln nodded, adjusting his bag before following Lynn into the bus.

It wasn't crowded, but there were a lot more kids than Lincoln expected. Apparently a few new kids had moved into the neighborhood.

Lincoln followed Lynn to the back of the bus. A head shot out of the side of a seat, smiling at them "Hey guys! Come on Linc, you can sit with me if you want." Lincoln smiled, sitting down. Lynn walked by him, giving him a smile before sitting in the seat diagonal to him, sitting with her best friend, Margo.

Lincoln looked at his friend, relaxing a bit. "Hey Stella, how are you doing?" Stella let out a tired sigh. "Okay I guess. It's hard without the others to talk to… err… not that I'm saying I'm tired of talking to you, it's just… You know."

Lincoln nodded, understanding. "Don't worry, I get it. I knew things were going to start changing in middle school… But I didn't think they were going to be changing this much." Stella nodded, letting out a sigh. "Me neither… Have you heard from Liam or Zack yet?"

Lincoln shook his head and Stella sagged a bit. "No… What about Rusty?" Stella tensed a little. "Yeah… I went to ask him to snap out of this stupid 'game' he is playing and start being our friend again. He just laughed at me and asked me out. I told him no, but he seemed offended by it. I don't know why, It's not even the first time I've rejected him."

Lincoln sighed, placing a hand on Stella's shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that. I don't see what he sees in those jerk friends of his. Hopefully he will see we are his true friends before it's too late." Stella nodded, sitting up a bit. "Yeah, well at least we are still friends. I would hate to be alone getting into Middle school. You definitely make moving here nice."

Lincoln smiled, shyly rubbing his neck. "Well, everyone needs a friend. I'm more than happy to be yours." Stella smiled back. "Nice to know some things never change or in this case, some people."

Lincoln nodded, looking out the window as the bus came to a stop. "Don't worry Stella, I never really change much." Stella nodded, looking with Lincoln as Girl Jordan walked onto the bus, headed towards them. "I don't know Linc, you seem a bit more fit this year."

Lincoln looked at Stella, raising a brow. "What do you mean?" Stella poked his arm. "You have a bit more muscle. You look less like a bean pole and a lot more… lean. I think practicing with your sister if finally doing something for you, that and I'm sure running around trying to keep your sisters from blowing up the house helps."

Lincoln looked at his arms, poking them. "If you say so… I never really noticed." Stella snorted. "Like I said, glad to know you don't change much."

"Hey Lincoln. Hey Stella. How is it going?"

Lincoln and Stella turned to look at Girl Jordan, both a bit surprised. One, because she was sitting next to them and two, because she looked exhausted. Lincoln raised a brow. "Hey Girl Jordan, are you okay? You look exhausted." She nodded, scratching her neck. "Yeah… I just haven't been having a very good summer. Boy Jordan has been harassing me since last month. Apparently he thinks because we have the same name, we should be dating. That guy isn't my type and he is a bit of a jerk. Then yesterday I had a doctor's appointment and my doctor misdiagnosed me. It was pretty scary."

Lincoln frowned. "What do you mean? What did he make you think you had?" Girl Jordan sighed, looking a bit uncomfortable. "He… err… thought I had a tumor in my head." Lincoln's eyes widened and Stella's mouth dropped.

Girl Jordan nodded, letting out a yawn. "He had me there for over ten hours doing tests, only to find out that the results belonged to someone else. After being terrified for most of the day, it was a relief to know I wasn't going to die, but I was really mad at the doctor. My dad even punched him in the face… I'm just glad to be going to school, if I had to stay home, I would have gone insane."

Lincoln leaned forward, surprising not only himself, but Girl Jordan as well. "Well, I'm very glad you are physically fine. I know we aren't the best of friends, but I really would be sad if you were sick." Girl Jordan looked at him in shock before relaxing and hugging him back, placing her hand against his. "Wow Linc… You have no idea how much that means to me or how much I really needed this hug."

Lincoln continued the hug for a few moments longer before pulling away and Lynn leaned over the seat. "Lincoln's hugs always makes things better. No one really knows why. It's a bit of a mystery." Girl Jordan looked at Lynn, watching as she slowly sank below the seat. She turned to Lincoln, raising a brow. "I'll assume that was another one of your sisters?"

Lincoln nodded, moving to sit back in his seat. "Yeah, that is Lynn. She is my directly older sister. She is the only one to be in middle school with me." Girl Jordan nodded. "I see… Though, she is right… Your hug did make me feel a lot better."

Lincoln gave her a smile. "Glad to have helped."

"Oh for heaven's sake, why do you have to be here?"

Lincoln stiffened and Girl Jordan and Stella looked at the person sitting in the seat in front of Girl Jordan. Stella looked at the girl in confusion, but Girl Jordan looked at her in shock. Lincoln slowly turned his head, looking at the one person who hated him most. "Cristina…"

"Don't look at me perv."

Lincoln sighed, looking at his feet. "I'm not a perv and I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable, but don't you think it's a bit ridiculous to still be mad? I mean, it was over a year ago, not to mention, you were the one who chose to sit here."

"Pft… As if I would sit this close to you by choice. All the other seats are taken. Now stop talking to me."

Lincoln sighed, his eye twitching.

"Why do you have to be such a jerk to him? He didn't even do anything wrong. He had a crush on you, big deal. What is so bad about that? Have you never had a crush before? Is Lincoln that repulsive to you that you embarrass him and bully him in front of everyone?"

Lincoln darted his eyes to Girl Jordan in surprise.

"Humph, of course I have had a crush before, but I don't post videos of me kissing pictures of them and I don't bully him. I just don't like him. I didn't have the same feelings, heck, I didn't even know he existed before the video went up."

Lincoln frowned and Stella leaned over, rubbing his back. "If you have such a problem with him, then why do you keep talking about him? You are upsetting him."

"Whatever, I'm surprised anyone would be friends with him, no wonder Clyde moved and the others stopped hanging out with him. They were probably sick of seeing his ugly face, who would ever date such a loser…"

The bus grew quiet and everyone turned to look at Cristina in shock. "I'm… I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Just shut your mouth. If you ever talk to my brother like that again, I will use you for batting pra…" Lynn cut off as Lincoln grabbed her arm and she looked at him. He had a blank expression, but everyone could clearly see the tears threatening his eyes. "Stop… please, go sit back down. I'm tired of people fighting and yelling all the time. I get it, Cristina hates me and nothing will change that. I'm not her type, I get that."

Lincoln looked at Cristina, a tear breaking down his cheek. "I am sorry I embarrassed you. I should have thought about how that video would have affected you… I make a lot of mistakes, but I try to make up for them… I see this is one of those mistakes that I can't do anything about… I'm sorry we couldn't have just been friends… I'll make sure to stay away from you… I don't want to make you more uncomfortable…"

Cristina opened her mouth to reply, but one look from Lynn, Girl Jordan and Stella shut her up. She just turned and faced the window. Lincoln let out a shaky sigh, placing his head against the back of the seat in front of him. Lynn patted his back before sighing. "Are you sure you just want to drop this?"

Lincoln nodded. "Yeah… It's not worth the hassle. I'm not happy with Cristina… But I don't want her to get hurt." Lynn sigh, leaning down to give him a quick hug. "I'm proud of you." With that, Lynn stood and went back to her seat.

Lincoln felt the spot next to him shift as someone sat with him and he felt both them and Stella lean over to hug him. Lincoln sighed, enjoying the hugs.

"Are you okay Lincoln?" Lincoln turned his head, looking at Girl Jordan. He nodded, still fighting his tears. "Yeah…."

Stella began to rub his back. "You are a terrible liar Linc… It's okay to be upset. She shouldn't have said those things." Lincoln sighed, letting his tears run free. "You're right… I'm not okay… I knew she didn't like me… but I didn't know she hated me that much… I really miss Clyde and the others… I fell like my world is falling apart…"

Girl Jordan sighed, turning Lincoln's head to look at her. "You know I'm your friend right? I know you said earlier that we aren't the closest of friends… But I don't agree. You have been there for me many times… Just like a while ago… If Cristina can't see what a great guy you are, than that is her fault. Just know, we are here for you."

Lincoln sighed, sitting up to hug them both back. "Thanks… I'm glad you are both my friends…"

Thanks for reading my new story. This is something I came up with out of the blue and I hope you liked it. Do tell me what you think of it. It is very different to my other story and I just wanted to try something new. As always, have a good day.